The American badger and the western coyote sometimes team up to hunt prairie dogs.
Badgers hunt prairie dogs by using their incredible digging skills to widen an existing prairie dog hole and dig down to their prey’s main tunnel. The problem with this method is that often the prairie dogs have time to escape by exiting their burrow via a different hole.
Coyotes hunt prairie dogs by using their speed and dexterity to catch them when they are out of their burrows. The problem with this method is that often the prairie dog makes it to safety in one of their holes.
But when a badger is rapidly tearing its way through the earth to your sanctuary, and a coyote is guarding your emergency exit, you’re kind of screwed. John Paul Sartre believed that people always have a choice, no matter what the situation. The prairie dog’s choice in this situation is whether to get killed and eaten by a badger or a coyote.
Badgers and coyotes may be work buddies, but they are not friend friends, so if one of them catches a prairie dog they do not share it. However, by working together, they have a much better chance that one of them comes away with a good meal.